Future-proofing welfare and the public sector with tech

27. interact with the market for a secure and cost-effective national digital infrastructure and IT operations.
To accelerate innovation and service development in the market for the benefit of both society and the individual, the government, in collaboration with the business sector, needs to invest in a common administrative digital infrastructure and in data sharing in areas such as health and education. To ensure the public sector's need for secure and cost-effective IT operations, collaboration with private actors needs to be strengthened and the proposals put forward by the so-called IT operations inquiry that services should primarily be delivered by private actors need to be implemented.

28. introduce open standardized interfaces for data transfer as standard. Public actors should be obliged to share open APIs, and be required to have publicly open and shared data to accelerate the tech industry's ability to create smart solutions for society and citizens at large. This also creates important conditions for large-scale deployment and a competitive market.

29. Increase the interest of more tech companies in the public market. The number of tenders in the public IT market is decreasing. Many companies report the difficulty and complexity of operating in the public market and the demanding procurement processes. Moreover, the potential of their solutions is not fully exploited. At the same time, the public market is very important for many companies. As new technologies create breakthrough opportunities, a clear interaction between business and the public sector is needed. There is much to be done on both sides. For example, the public sector needs to have the courage to procure on the basis of function and results to a greater extent. In order to realize this, a high level of buyer competence and digital maturity is needed. Innovation procurement, innovation prizes and outcome contracts are possible ways forward to create technological breakthroughs and harness the potential of health data, data-driven solutions and AI to increase patient safety and strengthen research. There is a need for more seamless data sharing between different actors, both private and public in health and social care.

30. Create a consent function for the use of, for example, health data for authorities, municipalities, regions, private healthcare providers, research and welfare services.
By strengthening the individual's opportunities to contribute data in a secure way, the opportunities for research to use this data are also simplified. The government has an important role to play here. Increased access to such data is a powerful contribution to the development of AI, decision support and machine learning, which in turn can lead to improved health and increased patient safety. It also strengthens Swedish life science.

31. accelerate the use of healthtech and welfare technology. New innovative healthtech solutions and welfare technology, for example for self-monitoring, increased security and prevention, are of great importance, not least for the chronically ill, those with multiple illnesses, the elderly and people with disabilities. Technology is a prerequisite for high-quality distributed health and social care, where security, independence and increased participation in their own health are clear benefits. There are also major benefits for society. The use of healthtech solutions and welfare technology needs to be accelerated by taking new approaches to incentives for the individual, reimbursement models, standards, and initial investments in organization and digital skills.

32. Cross-fertilize tech and life science for new Swedish export opportunities. Developments in tech have been groundbreaking in many sectors. In life science, this benefit has not been fully exploited. The strong Swedish tech sector has the potential to help Sweden become a leading life science nation. To promote this, the conditions for cross-fertilization of the industries need to be strengthened and the market's opportunities to contribute to the use of tech in healthcare and life science in general need to be increased. A new innovation platform is needed for collaboration between tech and life science, which enables various actors in academia, institutes and industry to drive the development of new innovative solutions.